Homicides in Detroit up in 2012, most other major crimes down

The city of Detroit reported declines in most major crimes in 2012 — but the murder count rose again with 386 recorded "criminal homicides," up from 344 in 2011.

Those numbers are based on the Detroit Police Department's final crime statistics for 2012.

A total of 411 homicides were recorded in 2012, including 25 "justifiable" police shootings, according to the statistics. That's up from 327 total homicides in the city in 2010, a rise of nearly 26 percent. The sharp increase brought the murder rate up to 53 per 100,000 residents, the highest since the early 1990s.

Compared with 2011, last year saw a 2.63 percent drop in major crimes, which included aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, unlawful driving away of an automobile, rape and robbery.

A substantial decrease was reported in burglaries, down 12.85 percent last year, according to the statistics.

Shootings played the biggest role in the homicides that the Police Department reported. Of the 386 criminal homicides, 333 resulted from gun violence.

"The release of annual crime statistics reminds us of the senselessness of crime and violence in our community, the challenges facing our police force and the need to improve conflict resolution and other anti-crime initiatives," Mayor Dave Bing said in a statement.